


The Stars in our Skies

by Everliah



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 11:28:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4178055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everliah/pseuds/Everliah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You talk about her as though she puts the stars in the sky." He shook his head slightly, a small smile playing at his lips. His brown eyes were unfocused. With a sigh, Bellamy said, "She's the light behind the whole damn galaxy." </p>
<p>The absence of Clarke left a chill in all members of the Ark, but none more so than Bellamy. Lonlier than ever, he finds himself in a part of the woods, alone… Or so he thinks. There, he finds a girl. A girl with no recollection of the time where people ruled the world. A girl who had no idea other humans even existed. A girl who, against all odds, doesn’t know any of the horrific things Bellamy Blake has done to survive. But once he takes her back to his camp, questions start to arise. How does a girl who has survived ten years on Earth never come into contact with any other person? Is she all that she claims to be? Or is the only thing Bell has to keep him connected to reality about to be ripped from his grasp again?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Set a few weeks after the Season 2 Finale. I don't really know where this came from but I hope you enjoy it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Girl

Chapter One- The Girl  
She screwed her eyes shut, curling into a ball. Her hands were clamped over her face, and the leaves that covered her body stopped rustling as her movement ceased. It was loud this time, much louder than usual and masculine; the voice she heard in her head was broken, torn up about something. She didn't know what.  
This was a regular thing for her; the voices came and went, an unpredictable assortment of laughter and screams, although she couldn't be sure. Her dad had described laughter as happy and uncontrollable and screams as painful and strained; both bubbled in one's throat and died in the air.  
Her fingers ghosted over the small Walkman and headphones that were attached to the inside of her dad’s jacket. Wanting to sob, she relished in the smooth but cold feel of the plastic, wishing she could listen to her dad, instead of the voices. But that was impossible.  
She couldn't do that.  
So, she tensed her body, tightening every muscle, and everything seemed to explode. The voice sounded like bombs going off in her mind, like someone was playing her eardrum to coincide with every spoken syllable. It hurt. Oh God, it hurt. It hurt it hurt it hurt it hurt-  
The voice stopped suddenly.  
Fear spiked her bloodstream. A paralysing emotion that left her entire body tingling and numb. What was going on? Why had the voice stopped?  
The hurt ebbed away, like water trickling through her fingers. She tried desperately to catch hold of it, to see if she could figure out what had caused it and stopped it, but it was too late.  
Her heart was beating erratically. She tried to level her breathing, but couldn’t. Biting her lip to try and stop herself from panting aloud, she felt something hot drip down her chin. Blood. Her limbs ached impossibly and she longed to get up, but she knew she shouldn’t. Her dad had told her, at the beginning of each tape, that when she heard something foreign, she should hide, and stay hidden until she knew it was safe.  
But the years she had spent doing this hadn’t gotten her any more accustomed to the action. Her teeth relinquished the abused skin of her lip, and a sharp but shaky exhalation escaped before she could stop it. She froze.  
Nothing happened.  
Her body trembled, shaking and twitching.  
Just as she was about the get up, the cloak of leaves was ripped off of her. Sunlight blinded her. Her eyes, which had previously adjusted to the darkness, squinted. She couldn’t see. And all too soon, her vision returned and a looming figure towered in front of her.  
She stared.

 

Bellamy sighed.  
Shifting his grip on the knife in his hand, he glanced behind him once more. Of course, he didn’t need to. There were no imminent threats waiting to jump out at him. At least, no obvious ones; he wasn’t too sure where they stood with the Grounders. Their alliance was clearly over, but was it back to killing each other so soon?  
It was habit, back from when life was simpler, and the dropship was home, and he was leader and Clarke was-  
No. Bell shook his head vigorously. Don’t think about Clarke.  
It wasn’t that he missed her, he thought furiously, but he had grown so used to her presence, to someone having to make the important decisions for him, to having faith in the leader who protected him but like she said, and he felt a sickening wrench in his stomach, Clarke must bear it so he doesn’t have to.  
The camp was empty now. It seemed as though her absence left a chill in the bones, as though everyone, even those who didn’t know her, knew that the girl who had saved them countless times was truly gone forever.  
Ever since she left, he had ventured further into the forests surrounding the Ark on a daily basis. Subconsciously, he seemed to always head in the opposite direction to Mount Weather. That place had taken too much from too many people; he didn’t need to be reminded of what he had done to it, and what the place had done to him.  
But why did she have to go? He had blood on his hands too! He felt pain as well! Every day of his life, he’d had to pretend to be brave when he was just scared! Why did she get to run away?  
“God, Clarke, why did you have to leave?” A ragged yell wrenched itself from Bellamy’s throat and his chest heaved in a sob. “Why did you have to go? Why couldn’t you have stayed? You didn’t need to leave us!” Tears pricked his eyes as he shouted his words into the wind. “You didn’t need to leave me!”  
His head bowed, a breathless cry left his lips. “I have to bear this too…”  
Closing his eyes briefly, his grip on the weapon tightened and his other hand reached up to hold his face. Then, he heard a small gasp.  
Bellamy stilled.  
He almost thought he had imagined it, when he heard it again. Breathing. Without opening his eyes, he listened. The sound was definitely feminine, and seemed close yet distant. He cracked one eye open and scanned his surroundings. The trees rose up and pierced the sky, which was a bright blue. The ground was covered in leaves of all hues; browns and greens and reds, and when he heard the gasp again, Bellamy’s head snapped towards the direction it came from, feeling cold all over. The breath was human.  
His hand felt sweaty, but he couldn’t lose focus. If this was an ambush, he needed to be prepared.  
The next inhalation came from next to his foot. He looked down.  
But there was nothing there apart from a pile of leaves.  
His heart skipped a beat… The pile of leaves was moving.  
The movement was imperceptible, and maybe if he hadn’t been living through a war the past few months, he wouldn’t have noticed it, but he did. There was nothing natural about the way they moved; they weren’t dancing in the breeze, but quivering.  
Bellamy only paused for a fraction of a second, before he reached down, brown eyes locked on the pile, and pulled at the leaves.  
And he found a girl.  
He dropped the cloak of leaves. The shock was evident on his face, he assumed. His mouth was gaping open, eyes widening, and all he could do was stare at her. She had brown hair with odd little braids in it, and a pale but freckled face with large green eyes. Her clothes appeared to have been made by hand; a patchwork outfit of various different scraps of material. She looked Octavia’s age, younger even, but the youthfulness on her face was paralleled with a wisdom in her eyes.  
She looked just as stunned as he did, more so even. They both regarded the other in a cautious yet dazed manner, and then the girl did something Bellamy could never have predicted. She got shakily to her feet (which he noted with dull detachment, were bare) and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
Paralysed, Bell didn’t return the hug. The body that was pressed against his was trembling uncontrollably and he vaguely realised she was sobbing, but he could feel no tears leaking from her eyes.  
He didn’t know what to do. It was obvious the girl needed comforting, but why? What had happened to her? Why did she react in such a way to his sudden appearance? Why was she hiding in the first place?  
Shaking his head slightly to clear his mind, Bellamy gently grasped her shoulders, pulling her away. Her eyes were still wide with something, but it didn’t look like fear. “Who are you?” He asked carefully, his voice firm but soft.  
The girl’s lip wobbled but she just swallowed and said, “I didn’t know…”  
Bellamy watched her, his thoughts racing. “Didn’t know what?”  
But instead of answering, she just shook her head and whispered, “You’re not supposed to be here… You don’t- Oh god, now I’m seeing things- I can’t see, no, please, I can’t see I can’t see-”  
Twisting and writhing, he tightened his hold on her, supporting her as her legs gave way. He was beyond alarmed. What was going on? “Hey,” he urged. “I need you to calm down and tell me what you’re talking about.”  
She just doubled-over, and manoeuvred her hands to cover her face, muttering something under her breath over and over again. Bellamy was at a loss at what to do, so he bent down and tried to catch what she was saying.  
His breath lodged in his throat and he felt turmoil in his stomach. Staring at, but not really seeing, some point on the floor, his chest heaved. His eyes flicked back to this strange girl who was still repeating the same sentence that made his veins feel clogged, like his blood had somehow solidified into jagged metal.  
“You’re not real.”

 

  
Bellamy shook himself.  
No. It didn’t matter for now. She didn’t know what she was talking about. Or maybe it was he who didn’t know what he was talking about… Then again, he wasn’t the one having a seizure in the middle of a forest in a post-apocalyptic world. He needed to calm her down, or he was never going to get any answers out of her. “Please, you need to take a deep breath.”  
She stopped so suddenly, the silence seemed to scream. Her head hesitantly rose so that she could look up at him; she was short, the top of her body only reaching his chest. But her eyes were attentive. Never breaking eye contact, she inhaled deeply. “Okay,” Bellamy breathed. “Okay, that’s good. That’s good. Now, what’s your name?”  
“Auriela.”  
“Auriela,” he tasted it on his lips; it felt foreign. “Okay, Auriela, I’m Bellamy Blake.”  
She nodded. It seemed that this was as calm and unguarded as she was going to get, so he thought quickly about what to ask her next.  
“What didn’t you know?” Her brows furrowed and she cocked her head in confusion. He added, “When you first saw me, you said-”  
“I didn’t know…” A dawning look of dread flooded Auriela’s face. She looked him in the eye and he saw tears. “I didn’t know that you existed.”  
Bellamy pulled a face, showing the bewilderment he felt. “What? Of course you didn’t know I existed! We’ve never met-”  
She cringed. “No.” And trepidation strained her voice. “I meant… I meant I didn’t know anyone else existed.”  
“I don’t understand-”  
A breathless, choked laugh bubbled up and out of her mouth, before she said, “For ten years, it’s just been me. I’ve never seen anyone else or spoken to anyone else. I forgot what real people looked like…” A wistfulness stole her expression as she studied him. It clicked for Bellamy then and he stared right back at her in stunned muteness. “I thought I was alone on this planet. I don’t understand how you’re with me. I don’t underst-”  
Auriela broke off, and tears leaked from her eyes. She faltered. He rushed forward and caught her in his arms before she fell. Mainly because she obviously just needed human contact; judging by the way she latched onto him, gripping him so tight, she had not touched another person in years. Ten, if what she said was anything to go by. “It’s okay,” he soothed. But shock was still numbing his brain. “It’s okay. You’re not alone anymore.”  
And at that sentence, she melted into him completely, nuzzling her head into his chest, the way she held him making Bellamy remember what it was like to be held as though you were going to shatter the minute they let you go.

 

They were both sat on the floor, watching the other intently. Bellamy reached into his rucksack and pulled out a water bottle. He offered Auriela it. “You want some?”  
She shook her head, but her eyes lingered on it long after he drank from it himself and put it away again. Bellamy sighed deeply. The girl sat across from him didn’t make sense. How could she have lived here for ten years and not have run into any Grounders or Mountain Men? But more importantly, he thought with a startling clarity, where did she come from?  
He watched her retrieve her leaf cloak and detangle it and laughed a little. Her eyes snapped to his. “How did you survive out here?” He asked in disbelief.  
She frowned, trying to appear aloof, but she twisted her body in a way that wouldn’t draw attention to the Walkman. “I have my ways.”  
He studied her for a second; from her small hands to her braided hair and large eyes.  
“You’re just a kid,” Bellamy scoffed, but there was a sincerity to his voice.  
“So are you,” Auriela replied quietly, and he froze, avoiding her eye. There was something about the way she said it that made him feel more vulnerable than he had ever felt.  
He licked his lips and shook his head. “I haven’t been a kid for a long time.”  
“Everyone’s a kid at heart,” she smiled, a half-smile, and with a shrug of her shoulders added, “We all have that innocence inside of us-”  
“Yeah, well, not me,” he cut her off shortly.  
She fell quiet. The only sound was the vacant birdsong that echoed through the uppermost branches of the trees. Then, she said in a hesitant voice, “You came from the Ark. Didn’t you?”  
Bellamy’s head shot up to stare at her. Well, it seemed this girl was full of surprises. He cleared his throat, finding it suddenly dry. “How do you know about the Ark?”  
Auriela frowned. “I think that’s where I came from.”  
And she didn’t know why she told him that, why she opened her mouth at all, but she did. Her heart was thumping against her rib cage in a sort of way that she was scared it would break through every layer of skin covering her chest. Of course, that was impossible, but that’s how it felt.  
Bell breathed quickly, trying and failing to maintain some sort of pattern to calm him down, but it wasn’t working. How could she have come from the Ark? What was the chance of The 100 not being the first to step foot on Earth soil? Was there a chance?  
He knew that he wouldn’t have time to ask all the questions he was burning to ask. He doubted she was even ready and willing to answer them, but he needed to try.  
“I can take you back to the Ark, if you’d like.”  
Her eyes lit up, and Bellamy felt a rush of excitement himself, but he quenched it, almost blushing. “Will there be more people?”  
The question made him falter. He’d heard it before, from the mouth of his illegal little sister just before the party that had gotten her locked up in the Sky Box. Eyes softening, he replied gently the very same answer, “More than you can imagine.”

 

As they walked side-by-side, Bellamy kept stealing glances at Auriela. She was trying to hide a smile, but he could see the happiness in her eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen such an untarnished, undulated happiness.  
She was different from the other girls he knew. Octavia, Monroe, Raven, Clarke… They all exuded dominance. They were fighters, kindled from the ashes of war. Auriela seemed to be a fighter too, though. Just a different kind of fighter; she was a survivor, someone who had single-handedly raised herself and yet she didn’t seem to wallow in sadness. She was like a breath of fresh air.  
She caught his eye the next time he looked at her. “Why are you looking at me?” She laughed, and he smirked a little. She didn’t seem embarrassed to have a boy stare at her, and even though he wasn’t looking at her like that, he found it odd and refreshingly natural to not be flirted with.  
Bellamy shrugged. “You’re happy. You don’t see that often.”  
Auriela’s smile faltered slightly. “Are people sad?”  
He struggled for words. It was hard to capture the feelings that accompanied humanity, especially when the humans in question had witnessed so much hardship. Finally, he said, “The people here have seen and done things that normal people should never have to even dream about. It affects them because they’ve lost people they cared about.”  
Clarke’s face flashed at the front of his mind, but it was gone too soon for him to properly feel the pain of it.  
Her face scrunched up in confusion. “But if they’re lost, why can’t you go and find them again?”  
Bell’s eyes flicked to her. She looked so innocent and he realised, that she was. She had probably never truly cared for someone, or had someone care about her as deeply as other people had. She didn’t understand humanity and he felt a stab of envy slip through him.  
“Because some people don’t want to be found.”  
And maybe she didn’t have anything to say to that, or maybe she knew that there was nothing you really could say, but Auriela remained quiet for a few minutes as he led the way back to camp.  
“You’ve lost someone,” she spoke up suddenly.  
He clenched his jaw and answered, even though it wasn’t a question, “Yeah.”  
“Does it hurt? People leaving?”  
Bellamy stopped, turning to look at her. And he felt pity for her, and her inability to understand perhaps the most beautiful yet painful thing about human. “People,” he said, never breaking eye contact, “when they’ve gotten used to each other… They start to depend on that other person, rely on them, because they’ve allowed their soul to correlate with another soul, and you can’t just break these bonds. You need strength? You can draw it from just a few words that leave the other person’s mouth. You need hope? Just look them in the eye, and they’ll convey everything you need. And so, though you don’t realise it, you start to leave bits of yourself in that person, until they have more of you in their body that you have in your own. And that’s something people seem to really treasure. More than life itself-”  
“Love,” she breathed in awe. Nodding, she added bashfully, “I’ve read about it.”  
“Yeah,” he clenched his jaw. “So that means that when this other person dies, or leaves, or never comes back, it hurts like hell. Because they’ve taken a large part of you with them…”  
She looked at him with sadness etched into every detail on her face. “You’ve lost too many people, haven’t you Bellamy Blake?”  
He just looked away, eyes downcast, and carried on walking back to camp.


	2. The Walkman

Chapter Two- The Walkman  
“How did you get here if you came from the Ark? Isn’t that in Space?”  
Bellamy raised an eyebrow. It had been little over forty minutes since they had last spoken, but he had sensed her building need to ask more questions. It seemed Auriela was just as curious as he was.  
“I got here on a rocket ship,” he smirked in reply, watching the way her dark eyes brightened in awe.  
“A rocket ship?” She asked, smiling. “That sounds a little dangerous, Bellamy Blake. Are we taking the same rocket ship back to the Ark?”  
He laughed. “Unfortunately, no. As much as I’d love to take you on a rocket ship, the Ark is on Earth.”  
Her face slackened and her eyes flitted to avoid his. Earth. Her dad had said that the Ark was an impossible place, full of tyranny and cruel dictators. But it was where she came from; she needed to at least see it.  
Her past, she could only remember in snatches. A corridor of grey. A dull room. Other people bustling past, ignoring her, as they went about their business. But try as hard as she could, the scenes always morphed into one of the meadow near her little home, or the cave itself. She couldn’t imagine a life other than the one she lived.  
“How did it get to Earth?”  
“They flew it down from Space,” Bellamy said matter-of-factly. Auriela frowned.  
“But that’s impossible,” she disputed. “The thrusters keep the Ark in Earth’s orbit… There’s enough atmospheric friction to slow orbits over long periods of time so each component station has thrusters; how could you just rewire the entire operation like that?”  
Bell smirked, shrugging. “Somehow, they found a way to use the thrusters to turn it into one massive dropship.” He could see the cogs whirring in her brain as she absorbed this information. Then he realised something. How could someone, who had lived on Earth for ten years, who wasn’t sure if she had even seen the Ark, know so much about it?  
“How did you know that?” He asked slowly. The knife in his belt pricked his flesh and he itched to wrap his fingers around the hilt. “You’ve never stepped foot on the Ark… So how do you know anything about it?”  
She froze. Her Walkman dug into her chest. Glancing at him, she replied, “I have my ways.”  
Bellamy shook his head. He’d been fooled before; never again. “Auriela, don’t try getting out of this. How did you know about the Ark?”  
“Why does it matter?” She asked, confused.  
He looked at her in exasperation. At some point, he had retrieved his knife and she eyed it, stunned. Gesturing in the direction they were heading, he said in a shaky voice, “Because I am leading you to my people and I’m not going to be responsible for any more deaths!”  
Auriela stared at him for a couple of minutes.  
Then, with slow movements, she reached inside her jacket. He watched her carefully, half-expecting her to draw a weapon. But her fingers wrapped around something cold and she held it out to him.  
Bellamy hesitated. Her green eyes were searching his and he averted them to look at the object in her hand. It was bright yellow, with various other colours marking buttons. When he got close enough, he exhaled in badly-concealed relief. It wasn’t a weapon. He frowned. He didn’t know what it was.  
“What is that?” Bell asked.  
“It’s a Walkman,” she replied. “It lets you listen to recordings.”  
“A Walkman?”  
Sensing his bewilderment, Auriela offered it to him. Her mind was screaming at her, urging her to withdraw her hand quick and not let him or anyone else touch it, but she knew she had to. This was the first and only person she had seen in a decade; she wasn’t going to jeopardise this chance by something as silly as this. And what he had said before had made something inside of her wrench.  
Bellamy took it unsurely and turned the device over in his hands, scanning every part of it. Looking at the front once more, he frowned at the Play button, and let his finger hover over it, but he didn’t push it. He looked at her, but she didn’t react; her face as blank as ever. He clicked the button.  
“Hey Rel,” a man’s rough voice broke out through the eerie silence, an undertone of static accompanying it. “I hope you’re okay. And alive. But, of course, if you’re listening to this then you must be alive… I miss you. You’re only at school, but it seems like ages, and the room gets lonely, but you probably know all about loneliness.” The man sighed. His voice was so tired. “I’m sorry, little bird. I know that you don’t understand this, or maybe you do, and I’m just rambling on trying to justify something that can’t be justified to make myself feel better. But I know this is for the best. Life isn’t good up here. The Ark is dying, Rel. People are dying. We’re all dying. And I can’t sit back and watch you suffer. I hope that one day, you’ll forgive me, and that day probably isn’t today or tomorrow, but I love you, little bird. Remember that-”  
Bellamy stopped it. He felt sick. As he looked at Auriela, Rel as who he assumed her dad had called her; he saw immediately the tears in her eyes. But she didn’t let them fall.  
“I’m sorry,” he said. And he meant it.  
“For what?”  
But honestly? Bell didn’t know. He couldn’t apologise for her dad sending her down to Earth to die. He couldn’t apologise for her life and the loneliness she must have to cope with. Suddenly, his troubles were reduced to nothing. Sure, he’d faced war, but he’d had people by his side. This girl, stood in front of him with strength screaming from every bone in her body, had no one.  
He just pursed his lips.  
“I’ve got lots of them,” she said, feeling an inexplicable need to explain. “Telling me different things, teaching me stuff. They’re back at my cave. They keep me alive. That’s how I survived.”  
“It sounds like he cared for you,” Bellamy said softly. Her face tightened.  
“Yeah,” Auriela replied in a bland voice. “Because that’s what loving parents do, send their kids down to die. Or do they? I wouldn’t know, after all.”  
He could have laughed because back on the Ark, they had done exactly that, but he didn’t. Instead, he replied, “You’d be surprised.” Then, added, “Cave?”  
Her lips quirked in a half-smile. “Well I don’t just wander about aimlessly. I’ve got a home too, you know.”  
Bellamy looked at her in amusement. “You live in a cave?”  
Auriela smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. What, too common for your Arker lifestyle-?”  
“Can I see it?”  
“Not so fast, Bellamy Blake. You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”  
Bellamy laughed, finding the double meaning to her words more than comical seeing as she didn’t even realise what she’d said. She looked at him, confusion blurring her features. He explained, “That’s not the first time a girl’s said that to me.”  
Auriela frowned, but he just laughed. They hadn’t stopped walking and the sunlight streamed through the trees. It felt good to laugh so freely.  
“What do you do then? Just listen to tapes and hide in your cave?” Bellamy asked, curious to how she lived.  
“No,” she replied, scowling jokingly. “I hunt and collect and read-”  
“You read?” He raised his eyebrows, shooting her a look.  
“Yes, I can read. Don’t sound so surprised.”  
“No,” he said. “It’s not that. It’s just- I can’t remember the last time I even saw a book…”  
Auriela stared at him, with an unreadable expression on her face. “I don’t know what I’d do without them. They make the world less lonely.”  
“That sounds unhealthy; trapping yourself in paper?”  
“It’s a hell of a lot easier to live by yourself, when you can stop the pain by just closing the book.”  
Bellamy clenched his jaw. “Wish life was that simple.”  
“Don’t we all?” She replied wistfully. There was an uncomfortable silence. He took in her clothing once more.  
“Where’d you get your clothes from?”  
“I made them.”  
“You made them?”  
“Always the tone of surprise,” Auriela commented sarcastically. “Yes, I made them. I can sew.”  
“Where’d the material come from?”  
“My resources.”  
“Resources.”  
“Are you hard of hearing or do you just like repeating everything I say?”  
Bellamy grinned. This sort of light conversation was refreshing; he’d missed it. “So what are these resources?”  
Her playful tone vanished and she swallowed, evading eye contact. He frowned. “Let’s just say, the Walkman wasn’t the only thing my dad left me with.”  
Bell changed the subject immediately. “The people at the Ark might be a little overwhelming at first.”  
She smiled, “So I’ll be bombarded with people?”  
The excitement leaked into her voice. “Don’t get your hopes up. People aren’t as good as what you think,” he said, but he couldn’t stop his lips from turning up ever so slightly at the edges.  
“Bellamy Blake, I’ve only ever seen one over person and that’s a sarcastic boy with nice hair and pretty eyes, and now I’m going to see a hundred. Maybe more. They could try to kill me and I’ll still be spitting fireworks,” the truth of the statement burned in her eyes and he blushed a little at being called pretty. She didn’t seem to notice, though.  
They walked for about ten more minutes in relative quietness and Bellamy noticed that she was getting more subdued the closer they got to camp.  
“We’re nearly there,” he said, glancing at her. Auriela nodded. “You okay?”  
She opened her mouth, then closed it again, before saying, “What if they don’t like me? I mean, I’ve never met anyone before! What if they don’t like me? What if I say something bad? Oh God, what should I say?”  
Bell smiled a little to himself, watching her fluster over it. “Hello might be a good start. And then maybe tell them you’re name.”  
“Hello,” she repeated, trying it out in various voices and tones. “I’m Auriela. Hi, I’m Auriela. Hello, I-”  
“Don’t be so worried. They might want to check if you’re okay in medical first.”  
“Medical?”  
“Yeah, like your health and stuff like that.”  
“Why would they need to check my medical?” She asked, looking down at herself. “I’m not bleeding.”  
“It’s not just wounds like cuts and bruises; it’s diseases. You might be infected- in fact, for all we know, you could have passed on some deadly germ that’s slowly eating me alive-”  
Bellamy cut off, seeing her horrified face. “I’m just… joking,” he finished lamely. She nodded, but no colour returned to her cheeks.  
He stopped when they were on the edge of the forest, and the camp was in site. She didn’t realise however, and stumbled into the back of him. Frowning, Auriela peered over his shoulder and her jaw dropped.  
The main part of the camp seemed to pierce the clouds, rising up tall and proud. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It looked like a metal tower, reflecting the light from above, as it watched the people buzzing about below it. There were so many people! With all different appearances, she could see just a few clearly from her position. Compared to her little cave, his camp was like a mighty haven.  
“Welcome to the Ark,” Bellamy muttered, eyes locked on her, gauging her reaction.  
She smiled, speechless, tears threatening to fall again. Her gaze never wavered.  
“Wanna get closer, angel?” He asked her, face shining with mirth. All Auriela could do was nod.  
The guards immediately aimed their guns on the two of them, and Bellamy held up a hand, signalling for them to lower their weapons. They did, albeit hesitantly, with a few odd glances at his partner.  
“What have they got in their hands?”  
“Guns.”  
She frowned. “What are guns?”  
“Toys for grownups. Only, you mess with those toys and you can end up dead.”  
“Oh.”  
The gates opened with a hiss of electricity and a chorus of creaks and screeches. People barely spared a disinterested look in their direction, but the few that did instantly did a double take. Soon, a crowd had formed, murmuring about the newcomer.  
“Who is she?”  
“More like, what is she?”  
“A Grounder?”  
“Can’t be. Too clean.”  
“She isn’t one of us.”  
“Then who is she?”  
Bellamy glanced at Auriela, hoping she wasn’t taking their curiosity the wrong way, but she didn’t seem to have. Instead, she was staring at them all in what looked like blatant awe. This close to her, however, the emotion was a tad different; she looked to him as if she had just seen not one, but a whole city of ghosts.  
Abby pushed her way through the throng of people and stopped in front of them both. “Bellamy, what is the meaning of this?”  
“I made a new friend.”  
“I can see that,” her attention shifted to the girl in question, and in a blunt tone, she asked, “Who are you?”  
“Be nice,” he warned under his breath. Abby frowned at him.  
“Hello,” she breathed. “I’m Auriela.”  
And for some reason, a spark of pride shot through him when he detected no tremor in her voice.  
“I’m Abby Griffin, Chancellor of Camp Jaha.”  
Auriela’s eyes were wide and attentive. “It’s nice to meet you Abby.” Then a huge grin broke out across her face. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “There’s so many people…”  
Abruptly, she turned to face Bellamy and looked up at him. “Thank you.”  
He just smiled.


	3. The Ark

Chapter Three- The Ark  
Abby led them back into the Ark. He could feel the tension in the air, and the unease at Auriela’s arrival. It seemed people were still cautious, even now.   
Bellamy glanced at the girl next to him; she was smiling deliriously, and he almost snorted. She clearly didn’t realise how much trouble he was in for this. But there was not one part of his mind that thought this was a bad idea.  
When they got into the council room, Abby turned to look at him. Maybe he would have been scared if he’d actually cared.  
“What is the meaning of this?” She crossed her arms, her face a series of stern lines. Ever since Clarke had left, she’d been cold; there was no softness in her eyes, just pain. Bellamy stared right back at her, knowing with a hatred as deep as his soul that his face looked exactly the same.  
“I found her in the woods,” he replied, folding his own arms and raising his chin. Next to him, it seemed Auriela had finally realised that something was wrong. She shifted uncomfortably.   
“And you thought it was a good idea to bring her back.”  
The statement was blunt and Bellamy was losing patience. “Look, Abby. I get you’re trying to be careful but… she thinks she came from the Ark!”  
This revelation brought her up short, her arms slid down her chest. “What?”  
Turning to Auriela, he touched her shoulder gently, ducking his head to look her in the eye. “Can you tell her what you told me? She’s in charge here. You can trust her.”  
Her eyes searched his for a few seconds before she nodded and diverted her attention to Abby. Her breathing hitched, but she imitated what he had done and lifted her chin slightly. Bellamy felt a swell of pride.   
“I’ve lived here for ten years and I’ve never seen another human being.”  
He almost laughed at how blunt she had to be, knowing that it could have gone a lot better. If there was one thing he noticed about people on Earth, it was that they were all drama queens. The reaction was instantaneous. A few of the guards shared frowns. Abby opened her mouth, but closed it again, lost for words. Marcus Kane started forwards. “That’s impossible. Earth is crawling with Grounders; no one could have avoided them.”  
“Grounders?” Auriela spun around to look at Bell. “What are they?”   
“Other people. We, er, we don’t really get along,” he explained, eyebrows furrowed.   
“Understatement of the century,” a girl’s voice retorted from behind them. Turning, they saw Octavia.   
A few of the guards swallowed and readjusted their weapons but Bellamy shot them glares. His sister looked more Grounder than ever, with paint marking the lines of her face. Her hair was braided multiple times and scraped back. She looked fierce. “Bell,” she smiled when she got close enough, putting her arms around him. He leaned his cheek into her hair.   
“I heard you brought a friend back,” Octavia said, pulling away. Her eyes found Auriela. “This her?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Hi, I’m Octavia. Bellamy’s sister.” She held out a hand.  
“I’m Auriela. It’s nice to meet you,” staring at the outstretched hand with a blank look, Octavia’s fingers began to curl. Bellamy watched them both with apprehension.   
“You shake it,” Octavia supplied carefully, but there was no hostility in her tone. Auriela did so, blushing. Only then, did O glance at her brother.  
Bellamy, however, was staring at Auriela, waiting for her to say something. Everyone who saw his sister said something, commented on her alleged betrayal under their breath. The new girl was just looking at Octavia. Finally, she said, “I don’t know if I can say this, but I much prefer you to these other people.”  
He was speechless. The directness surprised him, and when he looked at his sister, he saw that she didn’t know what to say either. Octavia looked touched.   
“I know they can be a little full-on, but you get used to it,” she said softly, smiling.   
“I hope so. I don’t think they like me,” Auriela wrinkled her nose.  
Marcus and Abby, who had been murmuring to each other, stopped and turned to look at them. “Auriela,” Abby began quietly. “Can you tell us exactly what you mean?”  
She looked at Bellamy, locking eyes, a silent question being asked, ‘Should I tell them?’  
He paused, clenching his jaw, then dipped his head in a nod. ‘Please.’  
“I’ve been here for ten years now. And I’ve never seen anyone else. I didn’t even know people existed down here… I thought they were all on the Ark,” Auriela said honestly.   
“How did you know about the Ark?” Marcus asked.  
Here, she hesitated. Bellamy knew that if she told them the truth, she would be giving away the only part of her dad she had left. She had already revealed it to him, though he knew it pained her to do so. Shitty parent or not, he was still her dad.   
But the indecision now was clear on her face, or maybe it was clear to him because he knew what thoughts must be running through her mind. She wanted to be accepted by people. She was going to tell them, so he said, “She has memories. From when she was a child. The way she described it, I knew it was the Ark; grey corridors, white rooms, the view. Where else could she have come from?”  
“I don’t remember her,” Abby commented thoughtfully.   
“You wouldn’t do. Ten years is a long time. She’d be… what, six, maybe seven?” Octavia offered, conviction framing her words. Bellamy reached out and took her hand, squeezing it in thanks for backing him up. His sister squeezed it back. He knew he could count on her.  
“Is this true?”  
“Yes,” Auriela said, her eyes flicked to the siblings. “I didn’t know it was called the Ark until Bellamy Blake told me.”  
“Bellamy Blake,” Octavia repeated quietly in amusement.  
“Shut up.”  
“If you’ve never seen any people in the ten years you’ve been here, how have you survived?” Abby asked, frustrated.  
“I have books and material and food-”  
“How?” Marcus questioned, suddenly intrigued.   
“I don’t,” she frowned, trailing off. “I don’t know…”  
Bellamy stared at her. Letting go of Octavia, he grabbed her arm and murmured in her ear, “I thought you said your dad gave you them?”  
Auriela met his gaze, wrenching her arm from his grip. “I have canned food. Enough to last me another decade, easily. How could my dad have sent me so much food, including books and clothing?”  
“And you’ve only just realised this now?”  
“’The Ark is dying, Rel. People are dying. We’re all dying,’” she quoted, her face wrinkled in confusion. “My dad said. He also told me that the Ark had so little food, that you could be executed for taking extra food. Why would he send me down with enough food to feed a thousand people?”   
Her eyes pierced his and Bellamy realised what she was getting at. Why indeed? The absence of food would be an obvious one in the Ark. He would have been floated, and the trouble of stealing the supplies would have been more effort than what it was worth. It would have been near impossible to pull off.   
“You don’t think your dad gave you the resources?” Bellamy asked in a low voice. Peering over her head, he saw Abby and Kane watching them intently.  
Auriela shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean, where else could they have come from? The clothes and books, maybe; they’re just scraps, contraband- they’re easy enough to come by. But food is different… It doesn’t make sense. I guess I’ve never really thought about it much before.”  
“You’ve never needed to,” Bellamy said, but something wasn’t adding up. “Don’t you remember something? I know you’d only be a kid, but you must have something locked up there.”  
“No… I- I don’t remember anything.”  
The look of complete and utter hopelessness printed on her face made him inhale deeply.   
“What are you talking about?” Abby asked loudly, interrupting their eye contact. Auriela looked away in haste, to stare at the floor.  
Then, she breathed and raised her head to meet the Chancellor’s gaze.   
“Listen. You can believe me, or you can think that I am lying, but I am telling you what I know to be the truth. I have never had to question my existence before but I want to find out what happened to me just as much as you do. Now, are you going to take me to Medical to check whether or not I am infected with a disease that could, in fact, be eating you alive as we speak or not?”  
There was silence; you could hear a pin drop. Bellamy looked down, trying to hide the grin that was stealing across his face. His eyes darted up to look at Auriela. She was staring at Abby, determination written on her features.   
Something flickered in the Chancellor’s eyes and her posture slackened ever so slightly. Then, she said in a softer voice, “I think that’s a good idea. Let’s get you to Medical.”  
With a nod to Jackson, Abby placed her hand on Auriela’s shoulder as she passed, leading her away. Bellamy’s smile dropped and he immediately began following, before Octavia stopped him.   
“Back to your stations,” Marcus ordered and the guards filtered out. His hand clapped Bellamy on the back and he said just before he left, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Blake.”  
“Yeah,” Bell muttered. “So do I.”  
When they were alone, Octavia stood in front of him. “Thought it would be fun to drag a random person into the middle of a camp with a dictatorship that claims all outsiders are to be killed on sight, huh?”  
“Are we pretending Lincoln is a Sky Person now?” He retorted, eyebrows raised.   
“That’s different,” she said.  
He just sighed, not really in the mood to argue. “She’s never seen people before.”  
“So, naturally, you brought her here. To the most aggressive and inimical place in the world,” Octavia said, eyes flashing with mirth.  
“I could have taken her to the Grounders; put her off people for another ten years.”  
“Yet again, big brother, you amaze me with your suggestions,” she replied sarcastically. “Now, don’t you think you should go find her? You’ve let Abby take her away to probe her. You’re the only person she actually knows, shouldn’t you be holding her hand?”  
Bellamy looked at her in disapproval, but nevertheless turned on his heel and walked out of the room.   
“I’m right, aren’t I?” She called after him. “You know I’m right.”  
“Shut up, O.”

 

When he got to Medical, he was extremely glad that his sister had suggested it. The scene that greeted his eyes made his mouth drop open.  
Auriela was stood in a corner, eyes wide, holding a chair in front of her. Abby and Jackson were holding their hands up in surrender, and the two guards that had been brought were pointing their guns at her.   
“Hey!” Bellamy shouted, hastily moving to shield her with his own body. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  
“She got hostile, sir,” one of the guards replied, keeping his aim straight. The other two were unsure, sharing a glance and lowering their guns.   
“Are you kidding me? She’s never seen any of this stuff before! You’ve got guns pointing in her face!”  
“Bellamy’s right,” Abby interrupted before the guard could reply. “Return to the gate, we don’t need anyone in here.”  
The three did so wearily.  
Auriela was still in the corner, clutching the chair. Bellamy held out his hand. “It’s okay,” he said. “They won’t hurt you. Come on. I’m here now.”  
She frowned, hesitating. Then she slowly put the chair aside, met his eyes, and shook his hand. He chuckled a little. “Right. Okay. I was actually gonna- never mind.”  
His lips curled into a sly smile, but it brought her closer. With his encouragement, she sat on the operating table.   
“Now,” Abby said carefully. “We’re going to have to take a little bit of your blood, okay? It might hurt a little bit, but it won’t last long. Am I allowed to do that?”  
Auriela nodded, but as the injection was being prepared and cleaned by Jackson, Bellamy bit his lip.   
“Do you want to hold my hand?” He offered, face creased with what was definitely worry.   
She smirked a little. “I’m a big girl, Bellamy Blake.”  
“You can just call me Bellamy, you know,” he blurted out, wincing internally at how it sounded.  
“Oh, okay.”  
“Ready?” Abby asked, appearing next to them. Bellamy moved out of the way and grimaced at the size of the needle. Auriela didn’t seem to care. She just nodded and smiled widely.  
As the injection went in, he monitored her face. Apart from a small crease between her eyebrows, she didn’t react. She glanced down at her arm, frowning. “Is it in?”  
Abby looked at her in mild surprise then smiled a little, “You’re a brave girl.”  
Auriela blushed, staring at her intently. She didn’t reply, just ducked her head to side, but Bellamy saw her smile.


	4. The People

Chapter Four- The People

Bellamy sat on a log around the fire, staring into the flames. The music of the party washed over him and he absorbed the feeling, glad for the distraction.  
He didn't quite know what the party was for, some birthday or engagement party no doubt- for those attempting to salvage light out of the dark.  
People were dancing and laughing and singing and kissing and just enjoying themselves in general, but he just found it so fake. Too forced. How could they celebrate life when they had taken that very same thing from so many people?  
His eyes scanned the camp, immediately finding Auriela. She was sat on the floor, cross-legged, surrounded by many of his friends. Octavia was sat behind her, braiding her hair and grinning at something. Raven was there too, legs stretched in front of her, gesturing animatedly, and Monty had his knees tucked up under his chin. The boy’s eyes kept flicking to Jasper, who looked like Bellamy felt; haunted and alone.

 

 

Auriela laughed, fingers fiddling with the flowers she was currently weaving into a crown. Next to her, was a small pile comprised of two or three previous attempts, with various different flowers. As she added the last one, her eyes squinted in concentration and she held it up triumphantly once she had completed it, “Aha!”  
Monty raised his head in slight interest, peering at the flower crown in her hands. “What is it?” He asked.  
“This is a flower crown,” she replied, eyes sparkling and she reached out to put it on his head.  
“Daisies,” Monty muttered, but he didn’t take the crown off. His eyes softened a little.  
Raven watched her, “How did you learn to do that?”  
Auriela shrugged slightly, making sure to keep her head still so Octavia could braid it, she said, “I had a lot of spare time and a lot of flowers. It’s amazing what comes out of boredom.”  
Raven just smiled. “That’s pretty cool.”  
"What do you do around here?" Auriela asked curiously, wanting to understand this way of living.  
Raven smirked, "I play with gadgets."  
"Gadgets?" She questioned, eyes wide with incredulity. "What on earth is that? It sounds like a horrible disease!"  
Raven laughed loudly, throwing her head back. "Not quite, Ella," she said, amusement dripping into her voice. "Gadgets are electrically-powered equipment, like computers and radios and-"  
"Walkmans?"  
"Yeah," Raven said, a small frown on her face. A few seconds of thinking, and she began to clamber to her feet, but fell back again, yelling out in pain. Her hand flew to her thigh, where the hole from the drill was located. Auriela leapt forward, detangling her hair from Octavia's fingers.   
She knelt beside Raven, eyes concerned, touch ghosting along her arm. "Are you okay?"  
Raven stared at her, stumped. Here was a girl who hadn't been exposed to human interaction for a decade and yet, she was acting as though Raven was about to drop dead. Her worry was palpable.  
"I'm fine," Raven said, biting back a grimace as she stood up. But she didn't move.   
Auriela touched her wound gently, finding it from the sodden material that was stained with fresh blood. Glancing up at the other girl, she raised an eyebrow. Raven didn't do anything.  
Auriela bit her lip before ripping the trouser material so she could access the hole. "The hell?" Raven asked in bewilderment.   
"This is too deep to just brush aside with hope it heals. Multiple layers of tissue have been broken," Auriela commented, analysing her leg. "I've got some stuff that can make it better if you like? Back at my cave. It's called Sanator. Heals like magic."  
"Sanator?" Monty queried. "I've never heard of that. Definitely didn't grow it on the Ark."  
"I think it's primarily Earth-grown. Does wonders to deep wounds; somehow, the properties of the plant's pulp duplicate and rebuild all kinds of cells, skin cells, blood cells-"  
"How do you know that?" Octavia asked.  
"Books."  
"Books?" Her face cleared immediately and intrigue settled in. "You've got books?"  
Auriela nodded. "My dad gave them me. When he sent me down here to die."  
There was silence at that statement. What could you really say? I'm sorry? You're dad's a dick? Me too? No, nothing would suffice. Nothing could possibly make her feel better; they ought to know.  
Raven tried to keep the pity from entering her face. She said, "I'll just be a second," before she disappeared.   
Monty smiled, "Guess we're not so different after all."  
Auriela froze at that. "What do you mean?"  
The two Sky People shared a glance. "Bellamy didn't tell you?" Octavia asked carefully.  
Her blood ran cold. "Tell me what?"  
"Our people sent 100 of us down here to die too. On a dropship from the Ark. We were supposed to be the test subjects to see if Earth was survivable or not, because the Ark was dying... Lucky for us, it was," Octavia said bitterly. She clenched her jaw.  
'The Ark was dying.'  
That wasn't the first time Auriela had heard that. She decided to ask what it meant, while she had the chance. "What do you mean the Ark was dying?"  
"We were running out of oxygen," Monty answered. "97 years on and the engineers hadn't supplied us with enough oxygen due to population increase and law-breakers."  
Octavia swallowed, reaching out almost absent-mindedly to continue braiding Auriela's hair.  
"Sounds like life on the Ark was fun," she commented dryly.  
"Wouldn't know," O muttered.  
Something she said made Auriela frown. "Why were you sent down?"  
"We were criminals."  
"Criminals?!" Her eyes bugged out of their sockets and the excitement she felt was evident. She was bouncing as she quirked an eyebrow and asked, looking between the two of them, "What did you do?"  
"Let's just say," Monty began. "That fruit and veg weren't the only things grown on the Ark."  
Auriela's hand shot up to cover her mouth, but the laugh escaped anyway. "Oh, shit," she said.  
Then, her attention shifted to Octavia. The other girl didn't look up from plaiting her hair. "I was born."  
The grin was wiped off of Auriela's face. They condemned a girl to death for being born? Part of her was secretly relieved she had not been subjected to the same life these people had on the Ark.  
Her eyes drifted, without meaning to, onto Bellamy. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them, "What about Bellamy?"  
Octavia's fingers paused. "He shot the Chancellor."  
Her eyes were trained on Auriela's face, as if daring her to say something but she didn't.  
A few minutes later, she asked, "It's not a crime if he deserved it."  
Octavia looked at her sharply, "What?"  
"I'm assuming this is the same man that robbed you of your life for being born, yes? You're his little sister. From this vantage, the man deserved it."  
Octavia blinked then diverted her focus. "If only things were that simple," she replied ruefully.  
"Here!"  
Raven was towering above them, smirking. She dropped something in Auriela's lap.   
"Your very own gadget!" The gadget in question was a small walkie-talkie.  
It was very similar to her Walkman, in the sense that it had a large speaker and multiple buttons, but this had no tape player. When she clicked the On button, all that played was white noise.  
She turned it off again. Suddenly, it clicked into life and a man's voice spoke, "Wick to Flower Girl. Wick to Flower Girl. Hello Flower Girl. Thought I'd introduce you to good old Walkie the Talkie."  
"It's like magic!" Auriela exclaimed, relishing in turning the device on and off, listening to snippets of Wick's voice.  
"It's just a Walkie-Talkie," Octavia said, nearly laughing.  
"Yes, well. I've been deprived of all these delicacies so I do think I'm entitled to be a complete and total blathering imbecile around something!"   
And the three of them just sat quietly and watched the new girl play with a Walkie Talkie, wondering how anyone could live in only snatches of real life, and all it had to offer. They could not remember the last time they had witnessed such undisturbed innocence.  
Auriela clicked the button, trying to stifle a grin as she said into the gadget, "Hello Wick. This is Flower Girl."  
The Walkie Talkie buzzed. "Why, hey there Flower Girl. You like the gadget?"  
"Yes," she replied, smiling. "Do you play with them all day too?"  
"I wouldn't say 'play'. My work is pretty serious, heavy stuff."  
"Oh, I see." She laughed as Raven rolled her eyes.   
"So how are you enjoying the party?"   
"It's nothing like what I expected it to be," Auriela replied, looking around at everyone.  
"Oh? Why not?"  
"Because people aren't happy."  
The line crackled.  
"And should they be?" Wick asked.  
Her eyes lingered on people's smiles and dances, hiding everything, then she averted her eyes to stare at the ground. With a small shrug, she said, "You tell me. You're the one who's been around them your whole life."  
Wick didn't reply. But Auriela was unrelenting.   
In a soft voice, she questioned, "Should they be happy?"  
Although the walkie-talkie was on, still he didn't reply. She held her breath.   
When he finally spoke, his voice seemed heavy.  
"That's a good question, Flower Girl... I don't know." 

 

Auriela let her hand fall into her lap, gadget momentarily forgotten. She thought about people, about their reasons to be happy. Surely, they should be happy?   
They were alive, weren't they? With food and water and each other? They had much more reason to be happy than she had, and yet in this camp, she felt like sunshine in winter.  
She thought about the things these people must have gone through to reach the place of unhappiness that they found themselves stuck in. Was that why people left, she wondered? Because it was easier to run away from the darkness, than to greet it?  
Her mind seemed to automatically slide to Bellamy. Her eyes found him too. He was sat, alone, near the big bonfire, with his back to them. There was something about Bellamy Blake that screamed unhappiness; he had lost too much for too little, it seemed. He was most decidedly not happy.  
Auriela felt the petals of one of her flower crowns brush against her leg. She was wearing her own clothes still; rags and scraps- Raven said that she'd help her find some new clothes tomorrow.  
She stood up, picking one of her wild flower crowns with her before walking over to Bellamy.   
He didn't acknowledge her presence at first, transfixed by the dancing flames. She sat patiently, eyes locked on the reddy-orange heat. She loved fire; loved the power it had over others; loved the will it possessed to survive.  
When she glanced at him, his eyes were already on her. She smiled.  
"Hey grumpy guts."  
Bellamy frowned. "I'm not grumpy."  
Auriela scoffed. "Oh, of course not. You're a little ray of sunshine. My mistake."  
He raised an eyebrow, lips quirking, but didn't comment.   
She cocked her head before reaching up to put the crown on his head. Bellamy recoiled almost instantly. "What are you doing?"  
"I'm putting a crown on your head," she said simply. "I thought that much was obvious."  
"A what?"  
"A crown. Well, a flower crown," she held it up and wiggled it for emphasis.  
"You want me to wear a flower crown?" Bellamy asked.  
"Yes." Auriela frowned, leaning forward to try and put it on his head again. When he moved away, she stuck her tongue out to wet her lips. "Stop moving! You're making this very difficult."  
"Good," Bellamy said, but he stayed still and allowed her to put it on his hair.  
Once positioned, Auriela smiled triumphantly. She clapped her hands. "There!" She cried. "Beautiful!"  
Bellamy just pulled a sour-looking face. He didn't move to take it off.  
"What's wrong?" She asked quietly.  
"Nothing."  
"Scowls, short answers, seclusion- something's wrong. Tell me."  
Bellamy looked at her, his face creased. "We're at a party."  
"Not your thing, huh?"  
He winced. "Something like that."  
Auriela felt her heart twinge, her body slumped in a small sigh, "Bellamy..."  
"What?"  
"Tell me," she leaned forwards slightly so she could see his face. He looked pained.   
Finally, he dragged his attention to her.  
"Have you ever seen something die? Ever watched someone's life drain out of their eyes? Have you ever killed someone, Auriela?"  
"You know I haven't," she answered.  
"I have. In fact, most of these people have. I killed over three hundred in just a few minutes. Took their lives by just pushing a lever."  
"What are you trying to do? Scare me away?" Auriela asked. "It's not working."  
Bellamy stared at her for a few seconds then let out a small laugh. "No, it's not. If you knew what I've done, then you would be back at your little cave within no time."  
She frowned at him. "Do you think I am scared at what you could've done? I know what people are capable of! I'm not an idiot, Bellamy! Why can't you see that?"  
Bellamy shook his head, leaning towards her and shaking her arms roughly. His eyes were shining with tears. "I'm a monster, Auriela. We all are. People...they aren't what you think they are..."  
She averted her gaze, staring blankly at the floor. So far, they weren't what she had thought they were; they were sad and broken and lost souls, trapped in the vessels gifted to them. But there was also so much brilliance, so many sparks of intelligence and compassion and all of that seemed wasted on a wisp of sadness that rooted itself into their bone marrow and spiked their bloodstream with a depression so void they feel worthless.   
People were terribly confusing, she concluded. But she wouldn't change them for the world.


	5. The Gun

Chapter Five- The Gun

 

For Auriela, the party didn't last much longer. She was shown to her room, one in the actual Ark (which was apparently reserved for the younger residents of Camp Jaha) which she shared with Raven and another girl called Harper.   
She marvelled at the spongy mattresses that formed her bed. Back in her cave, she was used to a blanket, maybe two in Winter. It felt foreign for her to sleep this way, and Auriela found herself unable to get comfy. She knew she couldn't sleep like this.  
It was with this thought in mind, that had Raven finding her an hour or so later, curled up on the floor, sound asleep.

 

It was early when she woke. She could tell by the fact that the sunlight trying to break in through the cracks of the metal was fresh and far too white. There was also the fact that the two other girls were still deep in slumber.  
It was a habit of hers, forged from the past ten years of her lonely existence. Often, she woke up before sunrise.  
Seeing no reason to stay in her room, Auriela stood up from the floor, threw the blanket on her unused bed, and made her way outside, making sure to close the door with a quiet click.  
Nothing seemed to stir as she padded along the corridors, seeking the exit. She found it a few seconds later and closed her eyes to relish the cold morning air.  
It was then that she realised she was not the only early-riser.  
"Oh," Auriela said. "Hello."  
The man had dark skin, marked with various paints like Bellamy's sister, Octavia, on his face. His clothing was different also, a heavier and much darker material. He drew back, instantly guarded.   
"I'm Auriela," she tried again, smiling.  
He didn't reply, merely stared at her.  
She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. "I couldn't stay in there. It's too... Confining. I like to feel the sun on my face when I wake up."  
The man's lips quirked slightly and the tense set of his face softened. "Lincoln."  
Auriela looked at him, surprised, before she smiled again. "Well, it's nice to meet you Lincoln."  
Lincoln regarded her carefully. "You're not from here, are you? You're the girl Octavia was telling me about- the one who has survived ten years on Earth."  
There was no question in what he said, and she felt strange to know people were talking about her; it wasn't a bad-strange, just strange.  
"Yes," Auriela replied. Gripped by an unexplainable need to defend herself, she added, "But I came from the Ark."  
All Lincoln did was raise an eyebrow. He smirked with no real mirth behind the gesture and said, "You should have stayed up in space."  
There was something so familiar about those words that made her physically recoil, as though he had slapped her.   
Something changed in his dark eyes too.   
"I-"  
A voice from behind interrupted her.   
"You're an early bird, aren't you?"  
She spun around and saw Bellamy stood in the Ark's opening. He looked tired, she noticed, with huge black bags weighing down his eyes and messy hair. The smile was strained.  
"Yes," Auriela replied. "Looks as though you are too, however unwilling."  
He chuckled. "Usually, I'm the first one up." He paused, amusement draining from his face, before he offered another fake smile. "Can't sleep on the best of nights."  
She knew he was lying. Or hiding something.  
Turning, she said, "Have you met Lincoln?"  
Bellamy sighed in relief from the change of conversation; she pretended not to notice. He coughed awkwardly before saying, "Yeah. He's, uh, Octavia's boyfriend."  
Auriela's mouth dropped. "Oh. That's why they're dressed similar."  
"Yeah," Bell replied. "He's a Grounder."  
"We both are." Lincoln fixed him with a steady gaze, as if daring him to disagree with his sister's new status. Bellamy didn't.   
"Right," he said instead. He switched his attention to her. "You hungry?"  
She nodded and followed him away from Lincoln, offering him a small wave of goodbye. Frowning, she asked, when they were out of earshot, "Why don't you like Grounders?"  
Bellamy's jaw tightened. "When we first arrived on Earth, they tried to kill us all. They were pretty close as well; we got in a full blown-out war. But then we found a common enemy, and formed a truce to save our people from said enemy..." His voice turned bitter. "Then, they betrayed us."  
"Oh," Auriela said for the third time that morning. She could see why he felt so negatively about them now, but that didn't explain Lincoln. "But what about him?" She asked, jerking her head towards the Grounder. "And your sister?"  
"They sided with us."  
She accepted this answer, but only because of his bluntness. She doubted he would answer anymore on the matter.   
Without warning, she reached out and punched his arm.   
Bellamy jumped, shooting her an affronted look and nursing his injured limb. "What the hell was that for?" He demanded in exasperation.  
"For lying. For not telling me that your parents sent you down here to die too."  
His face darkened.  
"I didn't lie. My parents were dead before they had the chance. It was other peoples parents who sent me down."  
Auriela's face fell. "I didn't-"   
"I know."  
They didn't speak again, not until they had both helped themselves to some fruit and water. She looked at him.   
"So what's on the agenda today?"  
Without pausing to think, Bellamy said, "I'm going to teach you how to use a gun."  
Auriela stared at him, gormless. All she could do was blink. Eventually, she repeated, "You're going to teach me how to use a gun?"  
"That's the plan."  
"I thought you said they were grownup toys? Too dangerous and scary for me?"  
"Well, it's time for the big boys and girls to come out and play." He glanced at her, his eyes surprisingly steady. "You in?"  
Maybe it was that steadiness, or maybe she was just going crazy from being around people for this long, but her mouth moved on it's own accord and she said, "Oh, I'm in. Bring it on bitches."  
Bellamy laughed.

 

They were stood on the outskirts of the forest. Through the trees, Auriela could see the metallic surface of The Ark glittering in the sun. People were up and about now, streaming about their usual business like ants in a colony; she guessed they were in a way, each contributing in some way to the overall settlement. Bellamy was stood behind her; she could feel the tickle of his breath against her neck.   
"So..." she began. "How exactly do I do this?"   
Bellamy huffed out a laugh, before handing her the gun. The weapon felt foreign, but the smile was wiped off her face from the power that seemed to exude out of it. Auriela swallowed.   
When she looked up, she noticed Bellamy watching her with a frown on his face. She opened her mouth but faltered in her words. Silently, she shook the gun to try to get across her point.  
He understood.  
Sighing loudly, he moved to stand behind her again, so there was only an inch or two separating his chest from her back. He reached his arms around her to steady the gun and adjust her grip.   
"Relax," Bellamy said, putting his hands over her whitening knuckles. She tried to. "Relax your fingers. You can't pull the trigger if your muscles are too tight."  
She nodded, doing so. Then heard his short approval of "Better."  
He hesitated then. Auriela frowned, about to turn around to see why Bellamy wasn't continuing. But as soon as she twisted her head, his arms tightened around her waist.  
"Bell-"  
"Shush."  
She shut her mouth, hearing his sharp and heavy breaths of air close to her ear. Once her grip was right, he bent down and rested his chin on her shoulder, placing his finger over hers that hovered over the trigger.   
"You need to keep the butt into your shoulder lest you want it to kick."  
"Kick?"  
"The power of the bullet leaving the gun sometimes makes it kick. You can lessen the force if you make sure to absorb the impact."  
"Oh."  
"If not, then it'll jerk."  
"Right."  
Without warning, Bellamy pushed his finger, forcing hers down to pull the trigger. The gun fired violently, emitting a deafening bang and leaving a small hole in the tree trunk opposite.  
Auriela gasped. She could feel his chest pressed against her. They were so close. Then, he moved away, and her body felt cold.  
Clearing his throat, he said, "Your go."  
She chewed on her lip, before holding the gun up. Her heart hurt. Her breaths were pants. Her head felt dizzy.  
She narrowed her eyes and pulled it again.   
It hit the exact same spot.  
A rush of relief drained through her, and she laughed, throwing her head back from the adrenaline.   
"Wow," she sighed finally, levelling her eyes on Bellamy.  
He was watching her intently, a small smile playing his lips.  
"Yeah," he replied. "The guns not the only thing that gets a kick."


End file.
